Since then, dozens of other incidents have killed workers and endangered residents near petrochemical plants. But tragedies like these don’t have to happen.

In January 2017, the EPA issued the Chemical Disaster Rule, which provided sweeping new safeguards for workers, first responders and communities where dangerous plants are located. It would have forced operators to address unsafe practices and keep their equipment up to date.

However, Donald Trump became president before the new requirements took effect. Corporations that own chemical and petrochemical plants complained about the requirements, and shortly after Trump took office, his business-friendly EPA abruptly decided to sit on them.

And instead of standing up for workers, the EPA capitulated to the industry it’s supposed to regulate. It sold out safety. It put corporations over workers.

The United Steelworkers (USW) union—which represents the majority of organized workers in the U.S. petrochemical industry, including about 1,000 at Texas City—provided expertise to the EPA during development of the Chemical Disaster Rule.

Among many other improvements, the rule would have required comprehensive investigations into the immediate and underlying causes of disasters and so-called near misses. That would have been a huge advance over the current practice, in which companies can choose to investigate only the immediate factors and skip over other issues that also weigh heavily on safety.

The in-depth study of that disaster provided lessons for other refineries, and the Chemical Disaster Rule would have made this deep-dive approach to disaster investigations the standard.

In addition, the rule would have required that companies hire outside experts after a disaster to audit their compliance with incident prevention and response regulations. This would have provided a much-needed objective review of company practices.

A heat exchanger at Tesoro’s Anacortes, Wash., refinery failed in April 2010, causing a fire and explosion that killed a supervisor and six workers represented by the USW. In August 2012, a section of pipe failed at Chevron’s Richmond, Calif., facility, resulting in a vapor release and toxic smoke plume that endangered 19 USW members working at the refinery and sickened 15,000 residents in neighboring communities. In both cases, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board cited the need for tougher steel in the companies’ deteriorated equipment.

The Chemical Disaster Rule would have required the operators to provide chemical hazard and accident history information to the public, so schools, day care centers, hospitals and nursing homes near the plants had the resources they needed to develop their own emergency response plans.

Now, the Trump administration is denying them that sense of security. That puts residents at greater risk of injury and death.

Despite the deaths and suffering refinery catastrophes have caused, chemical and petrochemical companies fought the Chemical Disaster Rule. They balked at spending an extra buck on safety, on letting outside experts lead accident reviews and at sharing information about their operations.

And they found an ally in Trump’s EPA, which put the rule on hold despite the daily risks to workers and communities.

In June, for example, a severely corroded piece of pipe at Philadelphia Energy Solutions led to a fire, explosions and the release of thousands of pounds of dangerous hydrofluoric acid. Five people were injured; fortunately, no one was killed.

But the fight isn’t over. The USW, in partnership with state governments and community and environmental groups, plans to go back to court to save the rule. The USW and its allies will take this action to protect workers and communities.

Otherwise, instead of improving safety, the industry will keep taking the same risks. More workers will die in chemical disasters, and communities will be at greater risk.

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Next up in our series that takes a deeper look at each of our affiliates is the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Name of Union: National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)

Mission: To unite fraternally all city letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service for their mutual benefit; to obtain and secure rights as employees of the USPS and to strive at all times to promote the safety and the welfare of every member; to strive for the constant improvement of the Postal Service; and for other purposes. NALC is a single-craft union and is the sole collective-bargaining agent for city letter carriers.

Current Leadership of Union: Fredric V. Rolando serves as president of NALC, after being sworn in as the union's 18th president in 2009. Rolando began his career as a letter carrier in 1978 in South Miami before moving to Sarasota in 1984. He was elected president of Branch 2148 in 1988 and served in that role until 1999. In the ensuing years, he worked in various roles for NALC before winning his election as a national officer in 2002, when he was elected director of city delivery. In 2006, he won election as executive vice president. Rolando was re-elected as NALC president in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Brian Renfroe serves as executive vice president, Lew Drass as vice president, Nicole Rhine as secretary-treasurer, Paul Barner as assistant secretary-treasurer, Christopher Jackson as director of city delivery, Manuel L. Peralta Jr. as director of safety and health, Dan Toth as director of retired members, Stephanie Stewart as director of the Health Benefit Plan and James W. “Jim” Yates as director of life insurance.

History: In 1794, the first letter carriers were appointed by Congress as the implementation of the new U.S. Constitution was being put into effect. By the time of the Civil War, free delivery of city mail was established and letter carriers successfully concluded a campaign for the eight-hour workday in 1888. The next year, letter carriers came together in Milwaukee and the National Association of Letter Carriers was formed.

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